# Increase magistrates to 21,000 by 2028/29

> “We are rebuilding the magistracy by increasing the total number of magistrates to 21,000 in 2028/29, with more regular regional recruitment and a new national taskforce to support local Advisory Committees.”
>
> — HM Government; Government response to the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts, 12 October 2026

- **Status:** Promised
- **Status ladder:** Promised → In plan → Legislated → Funded → Delivering → Delivered
- **Policy area:** [Police, courts, prisons](https://ledgergov.uk/promises/area/police-courts-and-prisons)
- **Speaker:** [HM Government](https://ledgergov.uk/actor/hm-government)
- **Made on:** 12 October 2026
- **Where:** Government response to the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts
- **Deadline:** 31 March 2029
- **Cost a year:** No costing published
- **Who it affects:** Magistrates' courts and the people whose cases they hear
- **When:** In 2028/29
- **Paid for by:** Not stated when it was announced
- **Quote source:** https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-response-to-the-independent-review-of-the-criminal-courts/government-response-to-the-independent-review-of-the-criminal-courts (checked word for word at its source on 18 October 2026; Open Government Licence v3.0)
- **Last updated:** 19 October 2026
- **Card:** https://ledgergov.uk/promise/uk-magistrates-21000-2029

## Where it stands

The government says the number of magistrates fell from around 25,000 in 2012 to 12,500 by 2021. Alongside regional recruitment and a national taskforce, it is spending around £4 million a year on marketing to attract candidates. 2028/29 is read as the financial year ending 31 March 2029. The card moves when the government publishes the number of magistrates.

## Timeline

- 12 October 2026, Promised: The government says it will increase the number of magistrates to 21,000 in 2028/29
- 31 March 2029, Deadline (to come): 21,000 magistrates due in 2028/29

## About the cost

The response gives around £4 million a year for marketing to attract candidates, not a total cost of the increase, so no yearly figure is shown.

## Sources

- [Ministry of Justice, 12 Oct 2026: Government response to the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-response-to-the-independent-review-of-the-criminal-courts/government-response-to-the-independent-review-of-the-criminal-courts)

## Checks

- Verified by Pavel Guzhikov, checked by AI Journalist; approved on 19 October 2026.
- Checked by AI Journalist (automated) on 18 October 2026.

---

LedgerGov.UK's own writing (headlines, status notes, cost notes, summaries) is licensed under [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): reuse it, crediting LedgerGov.UK with a link to the card. Official figures are under the [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/) unless their source says otherwise; quotes from Parliament under the [Open Parliament Licence v3.0](https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright-parliament/open-parliament-licence/); other quotes are short extracts whose rights stay with the speaker. How the numbers and statuses are made: https://ledgergov.uk/method.